Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is about 100,000 light-years across. Light needs 100,000 years to cross it – but only 0.04 seconds to cross Earth.
Data as of: Current rounded astronomical estimates
Sources: NASA Earth Fact Sheet · NASA Space Place: What Is a Galaxy?
Millions, billions, trillions – they all sound the same. Here you see them side by side, to scale and with sources.
Earth's diameter vs. Diameter of the Milky Way · 1 : 74 trillion
Mass of Earth vs. Mass of the Sun · 1 : 333,000
Median U.S. family wealth vs. Elon Musk's wealth · 1 : 5.08 million
Damage from welfare fraud vs. Damage from tax evasion · 1 : 380
Earth's diameter vs. Diameter of the observable universe · 1 : 69 quintillion
A long human life vs. Age of the universe · 1 : 170 million
Wealth of the other 99 % vs. Wealth of the richest 1 %
Calculated remaining area vs. Land for animal feed
Annual per-person CO₂ in Niger vs. CO₂ of an illustrative 7.5-hour private-jet flight · 1 : 125
Birds killed by wind turbines vs. Birds killed by cats
Wild birds and mammals together vs. All ants · 1 : 1.3
Wild mammals vs. Livestock
Grains of sand on Earth vs. Stars in the universe · 1 : 10,000
Modeled investment against hunger vs. U.S. pet spending · 1 : 4.79
Annualized garment minimum wage vs. Ortega's dividends per year · 1 : 2.63 million
Wealth of the poorest 50 % vs. Wealth of the richest 1 %
CO₂ of the poorest 50 % vs. CO₂ of the richest 1 %
CO₂ per person in India vs. CO₂ per person in the USA · 1 : 6.5
Millions, billions, trillions: beyond a certain size, all numbers sound the same. SeeTheScale turns them into comparisons you can picture – such as the wealth of the richest against an average household, CO₂ per person in the biggest emitting countries or the age of the universe against a human life.
Every comparison can be shown as a stack of paper or 100-unit bills, as an area on a football field, as counting in seconds or as bubbles side by side whose area matches the amount. That way you see how much bigger one thing really is.
The comparisons by the SeeTheScale team name their sources and the year of the data; values are rounded on purpose, because this is about orders of magnitude. Every graphic can be shared as a link or image. With an account you can vote on comparisons and create your own.
SeeTheScale is a free website that makes unimaginably large numbers tangible: two values are shown as stacks of bills, a football field, seconds or bubbles side by side, so the difference is visible at a glance.
Every comparison by the SeeTheScale team names its sources – such as Our World in Data, Forbes, the Federal Reserve, SIPRI or the German federal budget – and the year of the data. Comparisons made by users link their own sources.
The values are rounded. What matters is the order of magnitude: whether something is ten, a thousand or a million times as large.
Yes. With a free account you create your own comparisons with sources, share them by link and vote on the comparisons of others.